Steel rang the moment the ambush closed in.
Arrows rained from the cliffs. Soldiers shouted. Horses reared in panic.
Seraphine moved instantly.
She didn't hesitate. She didn't look back.
She stepped in front of me.
"Stay close," she said.
I drew my sword.
"Not a chance."
The first attacker charged from the right.
I met him head-on.
Our blades collided. Sparks flew. I twisted, drove my shoulder into his chest, and sent him crashing to the ground.
Another came from behind.
Seraphine intercepted, her sword flashing like silver fire.
She was fast. Precise. Deadly.
We moved together without planning it.
I covered her back.She guarded my side.
Two soldiers. One rhythm.
An arrow flew toward my chest.
Seraphine knocked it aside with her blade.
"Focus," she said.
"I am."
But even as I fought, something else burned beneath the surface.
In my first life, I had died alone.
In this one…
She was here.
A masked enemy lunged for me.
I parried too late.
The blade cut across my arm.
Pain flared.
Seraphine's eyes sharpened.
She struck once.
The man fell.
"Are you hurt?" she asked.
"Still breathing."
Her jaw tightened.
"Good."
More enemies poured in.
This wasn't a random attack.
They were trained. Coordinated. Silent.
Assassins.
They weren't here to scare me.
They were here to finish what the empire started.
"Your left!" I shouted.
She ducked. I stepped in, blocking a downward strike aimed at her head.
Our blades crossed.
For a moment, we were so close I could hear her breathing.
Not fear.
Focus.
Trust.
We pushed forward together.
The last attacker tried to flee.
Seraphine threw her dagger.
It struck true.
Silence fell.
Only the wind remained.
The soldiers stared at us, stunned.
The mountain pass was littered with bodies.
I lowered my sword slowly.
My arm burned. Blood soaked my sleeve.
Seraphine walked to me.
She reached out without thinking.
Her fingers brushed my arm.
"You're bleeding."
"I've had worse."
Her hand lingered longer than necessary.
For a second, the battlefield faded again.
Then she caught herself and pulled back.
"Someone high-ranking ordered this," she said. "These weren't rebels."
"I know," I replied.
I knelt beside one of the fallen attackers and searched his cloak.
Inside, I found a small metal token.
Black.
Engraved with a single symbol.
The mark of the Imperial Shadow Guard.
Seraphine went still.
"That unit answers only to…" she stopped.
"The throne," I finished.
So the emperor had already made his choice.
Not investigation.
Not judgment.
Execution.
Seraphine looked at me.
"They are hunting you."
I met her gaze.
"They always were."
Her voice lowered.
"If I had not been here…"
I stood.
"You were here."
Our eyes locked again.
Something shifted between us.
Not just alliance.
Not just trust.
Something heavier.
Dangerous.
We resumed our journey in silence.
But everything had changed.
When night fell, we made camp beneath the trees.
The soldiers kept watch at a distance.
Seraphine sat across from me by the fire.
The flames painted her face in gold and shadow.
"You could still walk away," she said quietly. "Return to the capital alone. Let me say you were killed in the ambush."
I stared at her.
"You would lie to the empire for me?"
She didn't answer right away.
Then she said, "I already chose you on the battlefield."
I exhaled slowly.
"And if I don't go back?" I asked.
Her eyes did not waver.
"Then I go where you go."
The fire cracked between us.
I realized something in that moment.
In my first life, she was the blade that ended me.
In this one…
She had become the shield standing between me and the empire.
But shields can become swords.
And swords can break.
I leaned forward slightly.
"Seraphine," I said, "if I fall again… I don't want it to be by your hand."
Her breath caught.
"That will not happen."
Not a promise.
A vow.
Somewhere in the darkness beyond the fire, a branch snapped.
We both froze.
Not an animal.
Footsteps.
I rose slowly.
Sword in hand.
"So much for peace," I murmured.
Seraphine stood beside me, blade ready.
Whatever was coming next…
It was not going to stop.